The 2012 honorees for Public Service to Agriculture are Lisa Lunz of Wakefield and Alan Tiemann of Seward, and Dawn Caldwell of Edgar is the New Horizon honoree, according to Mat Habrock, chair of the Club’s Awards Committee.

Habrock said the awards banquet is open to the public. Tickets are $25 each before October 22nd and $30 each after October 22nd through the day of the banquet. Ticket reservation forms can be found at by clicking here or by emailing nebraskaagribusinessclub@gmail.com. Checks should be made payable to the Nebraska Agribusiness Club.

Lisa Lunz, and her husband, Jim farm north of Wakefield, Nebraska raising no-till corn and soybeans. Lisa is a graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and a member of LEAD XVII. Lisa is serving her final term on the Nebraska Soybean Board with a total of 12 years served. She has served as the research committee chairman, secretary and the Board chairman from 2010-2011. In addition, Lunz is the Soybean Board representative to U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance and the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska (A-FAN) communications committee. Throughout the years, Lisa has often shown her passion for youth and agriculture education. She has served as her community 4-H leader and involved with the Soybean educators, Ag Sack Lunch program, UNL Soybean research projects, CommonGround, and Ag Pen Pals. In addition, Lisa is very involved with the Wakefield School Board and her church. Lisa and Jim are also the proud parents of three children: Kristina, a recent graduate of Doane College;, Keri, a sophomore at Midland College; and Jacob, a senior at Wakefield High School.

Alan Tiemann, and his wife Lori, became the second generation to return to production agriculture when he began farming with his parents in 1978. Alan is fortunate to have their son, Dan, and his wife Casey, return to the farm making it three active generations of Tiemann’s farming together. Their operation is a row crop farm raising corn and soybeans. Alan began his career in public service to agriculture serving on the Seward Farmers Cooperative and Ruby Farmers Cooperative Board of Directors from 1986 to 1994. He has also served on the Nebraska Grain Sorghum Board, serving as president from 2001 and 2002. Tiemann also represented the Board on the U.S. Grains Council Executive Committee. In 2003, he began his current tenure on the Nebraska Corn Board. Alan was elected by his peers to serve an unprecedented three terms as Chairman of the Board. Alan again returned to activity on the U.S. Grains Council’s action teams, and was elected to serve on the Board of Directors from 2006 to 2012. In addition to their son Dan, Alan and Lori also have a son, Brian, who is employed as an architect in Chicago.

Dawn Caldwell, her husband Matt and two children farm in Edgar Nebraska on the family farm passed down from Matt’s grandfather. Half of their farm is devoted to row crops and farmed with Matt’s brother, and the other half to pasture for their cattle. Dawn received an Animal Science Degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1994, and is a member of LEAD CLASS XXIV. Currently Dawn works as the communications manager for the Aurora Coop, previously holding the position of livestock specialist for the Coop. Prior to her time at the Coop, Dawn worked for the University of Nebraska Extension service for three years before taking a job with an independent feed company. Dawn is involved in the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska, a CommonGround Nebraska spokeswoman and volunteer, a member of the Nebraska Beef Council Board of Directors and active in the Red Angus Association of America.

Missed the October 1st Nebraska Agribusiness Club meeting? You can catch all of the content from Dr. Tamra Jackson-Ziems’ great presentation on these two videos (they are split into PART 1 and PART 2).

Mycotoxin, aflatoxin, ear & stalk rots, Goss’s Wilt and drought were the main discussion points given by Dr. Tamra Jackson-Ziems at the October Nebraska Agribusiness Club meeting on Monday.

This discussion was especially timely as the heat and drought of the growing season this year, that spured the growth of many mycotoxins which affect corn in Nebraska. However, Dr. Jackson-Ziems assured the club that we have mycotoxins every year, but the talk of aflatoxin has gotten many people worried.

The concentration of mycotoxin in grain is influenced by fungal infection, growing conditions and plant stress. Mycotoxins can still survive in distillers grains after corn has gone through the distillation process as they are heat stable – however their concentration increases 3 times by volume in the distillers grains.

One major point to remember when talking about aflatoxin and that is the FDA Action Levels for corn intended for livestock or human use. The following picture shows the parts per billion (ppb).

Dr. Jackson-Ziems worked with a colleague who collected samples of corn in a 100 mile radius of Lincoln and found that 42% of those samples had no detectable aflatoxin at all. In 80% of the samples, the corn showed less than 20 ppb of aflatoxin – which according to the chart above, is completely safe levels. In 99% of the samples, aflatoxin was less than 100 ppb which is perfectly safe for livestock feeding. So even though there are rumors and concerns about aflatoxin in this drought year, this study has confirmed the safety of the Nebraska corn crop.

Please take a few moments to complete the Nebraska Agribusiness Club member survey. Your responses provide important information that will lead to a better Nebraska Agribusiness Club.

We appreciate your suggestions for improving the value of monthly meetings, as well as, the importance of agriculture to the Lincoln business community and consumers. Additionally, thank you for recommending new members to participate in the growing list of cool club activities!

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Welcome to the Nebraska Agribusiness Club page! Please use this site to find out information about our upcoming meetings and events, preview past award winners, and learn more about agribusiness in Nebraska.

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